Activities and Means of Carrying Out a Foreign Investment in Angola

Under the Private Investment Law, an investment is considered to be a foreign investment when the resources of private companies, either national (ie, a company incorporated under Angolan law pursuant to the Private Investment Act) or foreign, are used for the allocation of capital, technology and knowledge, goods and equipment or other assets, with the purpose of maintaining or increasing the capital stock in the country.

The following will be considered foreign investments:

• acquisition of technology and knowledge;
• acquisition of machinery and equipment;
• conversion of credits arising from any type of contract;
• shareholdings in existing Angolan commercial companies;
• application of financial resources resulting from loans, including those obtained abroad;
• creation of new commercial companies;
• entering into and amending a consortium, joint venture, association of third parties, or any other form of permitted association contract, even if not foreseen in commercial legislation in force;
• total or partial takeover of commercial and industrial establishments, by means of acquisition of assets or through contracts of transfer of exploitation;
• acquisition or transfer of the operation of commercial or industrial establishments;
• operation of real estate complexes, tourist or otherwise, regardless of their legal nature;
• conclusion of lease agreements of land for agricultural purposes and cession of land rights;
• cession of patented technologies and trade marks, the remuneration of which is limited to the distribution of profits resulting from the activities in which such technologies or trade marks have been applied;
• realisation of supplementary capital contributions, shareholders’ advances and, in general, loans linked to profit sharing;
• for projects exclusively intended for export, the raising of borrowed resources outside the country by domestic investors is considered domestic investment operations, provided that the repayment of the debt service is guaranteed by export revenues;
• introduction of technology and knowledge, provided that they represent an added value to the investment and can be subject to monetary evaluation;
• introduction of machinery, equipment and other tangible fixed assets;
• conversion of credits arising from the execution of contracts for the supply of machinery, equipment and goods, provided that they can be verifiably paid abroad;
• acquisition of shareholdings in existing companies incorporated under Angolan law;
• creation of new companies;
• signing and amending consortium contracts, joint ventures and other forms of business cooperation allowed in international trade, even if not provided for in international trade, even if not foreseen in the commercial legislation in force;
• acquisition of commercial or industrial establishments;
• conclusion of lease contracts or exploration of land for agricultural, livestock and forestry purposes;
• exploitation of real estate complexes, whether tourist or not, regardless of their legal nature;
• realisation of supplementary capital contributions, advances to shareholders and, in general, loans linked to profit sharing;
• acquisition of real estate located in national territory, when such acquisition is integrated in private investment projects; and
• creation of subsidiaries, branches or other forms of corporate representation of foreign companies.

The following are considered means of carrying out the investment:

• capital allocation;
• investment of available funds in bank accounts established in the country, held by foreign exchange residents, even if resulting from financing obtained abroad;
• financing obtained abroad;
• allocation of machinery, equipment, accessories and other tangible fixed assets and raw materials when applicable;
• incorporation of credits and other assets of the private investor, which may be applied as investments;
• transfer of capital from abroad;
• application of cash and cash equivalents in Angolan and foreign currency, in bank accounts constituted in Angola by non-exchange residents, eligible repatriation, under the terms of the applicable foreign exchange legislation;
• application, in national territory, of capital within the scope of reinvestment; and
• transfer of machinery, equipment, accessories and other tangible fixed assets and raw materials when applicable (it shall always be complemented by the transfer of capital from abroad, namely, to cover formation, installation and current expenses).

Registration of foreign investment in Angola must follow one of the following regimes:

• prior declaration (investments not exceeding USD10 million);
• special regime (investments in specific sectors such as education, health, agriculture, telecommunication, hotels and tourism, textiles, basic sanitation and waste treatment); or
• contractual regime (investments exceeding USD10 million).

The Angolan Foreign Investment Law establishes the same registration procedures for investments subject to prior declaration and for those falling under the special or contractual regime, without setting out any distinctions between them. Investors are merely required to indicate the sectors of activity, the amount of the investment, the investment operation and the means by which the investment will be carried out.